Page 32 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

He looked at her through glossy eyes. “But they’re gone now?”

“Yes.” She grimaced. “Now all we have to do is figure out how to free your brothers from Gorgo.”

“Gorgo.” He scratched the back of his head. “I vaguely remember him. I have no idea how to defeat him.”

“I don’t, either.” She gave his wrist a reassuring squeeze before releasing him and immediately missed the warmth from his skin. “But we’ll figure it out.”

He nodded toward her knuckles. “Will you let me look at your wound?”

She frowned, turning over her hand so they didn’t have to look at the ugly blisters. “I thought Damon was the healer.”

After prying information from Hecate and Daeva, she’d not only memorized her mates’ names, but also their magical powers, which mirrored the powers of Daeva’s mates. Just like Daeva’s gamma, Phoenix’s gamma mate, Damon, was also a healer. He could also grow grains and vegetables with a wave of his hand. Cadmus had wind power and could summon a gale at will. Helius was also a healer, but he could also summon ground-shaking earthquakes with just one roar. Drakkon had an earth-shaking roar, too, and he could bend people to his will with his mind.

“He is.” He gently grasped her wrist and turned over her hand.

She flinched when he tapped one of her blisters. She wasn’t sure if it was the sharp pain that made her want to pull back, or the heat from his nearness. Two unfamiliar scents, sulfur and a dark coppery tang, wafted from his skin, reminding her they were in hell, and he’d recently been a zombie lecher. She wondered if he’d been eating brains or worse. The thought soured her stomach, especially considering she could soon be a zombie, too.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” he whispered.

“I’m not.” She swallowed back her unease. “I’m just not used to you.”

“You look just like Bennu,” he whispered, his nostrils flaring. “You smell like her.”

“I changed into my demon form when I came down here.” Though she wasn’t sure how. Had it something to do with the proximity of her mates?

She gasped and swore when he unsheathed a long claw and sliced open her blister. He refused to release her wrist, holding her still while he squeezed puss out of her wound. Her head spun.

“What were you before?”

He was trying to distract her, to keep her mind off the pain, the terror. Before she could stop him, he sliced open the other blister and squeezed out the puss.

She breathed through a hiss. “A wolf shifter in the mortal world.”

Her held her hand tight, squeezing, his facial features impassive, as if draining zombie puss was the most natural thing in the world. “I didn’t know the mortal world had wolf shifters.”

She turned her head when a putrid stench wafted from her hand. If she wasn’t turning into a zombie, she was going to have one hell of an infection. “That’s another story for another time.”

“Did you have mates in this mortal world?”

She caught his gaze, the underlying tension clinging to his skin as moisture beaded on his forehead. “No.”

The tension tightening his eyes relaxed perhaps a fraction. “We need to get you some herbals.”

She made the mistake of looking when he squeezed her knuckles hard, and puss shot out like a popped pimple. She fell onto her bottom, a wave of nausea and fatigue washing over her.

“I doubt we’ll find any herbals here.”

He stood, tugging on her wrist. “Then let’s go find some.”

She gaped up at him, his face blurring like a faded photograph. “I-I’m too tired.” Her jaw went slack as her eyelids fell shut and she slumped against the hard wall behind her.

“You can’t fall asleep, Bennu.”

She was vaguely aware of the panic in his voice as he shook her shoulder, but she couldn’t force open her eyes. “But I’m tired,” she slurred. Amarok’s wolf claw fell out of her slackened hand with a clank. “Maybe this can heal me. It’s magic.”

“What is it?” His voice echoed all around her, through her, but she was too tired to answer. “Don’t fall asleep. Bennu. Bennu!”

The echo of his voice subsided, and she finally surrendered to the fatigue that claimed her.

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